Our Sick Inheritance (editing)

Chapter 29 - Too Familiar

With a groggy mind, Jake stood up and look around without moving. Not knowing what happened Jake saw he was standing at the beginning of the most glorious garden he had ever seen. By the beauty of the scenery, he immediately wondered if he was dead and was standing at the edge of Heaven. He tried to remember what happened and barely recalled a stranger had pulled him away from his home. Jake didn't see anyone around at the edge of this organized Eden. The garden seemed to stretch up to the sky. On the thick green surrounding bushes were brilliant colors to which he thought at first were flowers. Jake balanced clumsily and couldn't tell where he was. He had never been in a garden as grand as this. He started to walk up the center path towards the giant tree on the top of the hill where he was sure to find his answers.

A shadow moved to his right but disappeared before he could determine that it was indeed movement at all. Jake walked forward and saw in every direction there was greenery with bursts of uniquely bright colors, that weren't shaped like typical flowers. It was so beautiful, yet so eerie. He felt as if there were many people whispering but he couldn't see a single soul except for a rippling shadow on the top of the hill in front of a giant tree that was lit up like lightning would the clouds. The shadow was shaped as a man. With trepidation, Jake continued up the hill towards and noticed several lighter shadows moving in his peripheral, but he couldn't identify the shapes.

Jake thought he heard someone talking clearer to another through the whispers but figured his mind was playing tricks on him. With each step the garden got bigger and was separated into sections by the elegantly sculptured glistening path. A third of the way up Jake stepped closer to one of the separated sections along the path and saw that the colors of the bushes were thick with various candies and treats instead of flowers. He was anxious to reach the top but the shades of pink balls of fluff to his left distracted him.

In another section up from him, Jake saw two girls standing together holding hands. He couldn't see either of their faces but one was blond with long blond hair and the other had shorter dark hair. They were softly talking, but the movement of their lips, weren't matching their words which he couldn't hear. They were scary in the way they seemed to stare at him with their matted hair and pale faces. Both girls had blood on their necks which was what he also assumed was covering the colors of their eyes.

"Go ahead sweetie, eat one." He watched and heard them softly say at the same time but came out as one echoing the other. Wondering what kind of sick hell this was, he wanted an escape. He knew the pink fluffy cupcake would taste like sweet cotton candy as the edible pearls burst strawberry bites in a liquid form all over his mouth. He knew the brown cake contained chopped up organic strawberries like his grandmother used to grow. Jake picked a cupcake topped with pink frosting off the bush to eat when he heard a throaty scream. It sounded like Stacy.

Stacy stood in front of the tallest white tree at the top of the hill looking as white as snow, as if her blood was drained by a vampire. She didn't look scared but seemed to enjoy the shadow of a man standing directly behind her. The man was holding a thick chunk of blue candy in his hand that he was intending to feed to Stacy but changed his mind only to wrap his arms around Stacy's chest instead. Jake felt like he was being enveloped in this drama as the only spectator though he knew others were around him. His sister again screamed, this time not with desire but with surprise.

Jake dropped the ball of surgery puff he had pulled off the tree and started running to the top of the hill to save his sister. The hill was getting longer and longer with every effort he made to move further up it. Jake felt heavier in weight even though he was a physically fit man. He was over half way up when Stacy stopped struggling against her captor and reached out towards him. Jake abruptly stopped as he saw blood sliding down her throat from a thin red line. Maybe she was playing with vampires Jake thought and could hear the argument in his head that vampires weren't real.